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Fingers crossed SF doesn't nuke my first post.
What is this?
This is a reversed recruitment playthrough of FE3 Book 2.
What about Book 1?
I did Book 1 in a thread in the Smashboards FE subforum. There weren't a whole lot of people reading regularly there, so I'm mirroring updates starting from Book 2 here so hopefully more people will be able to enjoy this nonsense.
You can read the Book 1 run there if you wish.
What patch are you using?
One that I made myself. I might release it once I'm done with the run and fixed most of the bugs I've found, if there's enough interest.
Who replaces who?
Here, for those who want to know:
Other stuff:
In some other runs I've done, I did screenshots/gifs of each character level up. I have since decided this is "dumb" and "bad" because too much of my screenshots were being taken up by level ups rather than actual gameplay. So instead at the end of each update, there will be a "Stat Update" section to show how everyone is progressing and comment on it.
Now on to the show. Featuring 2 chapters instead of the usual 1 cuz I felt like it! And also the updates individually were kinda short.
Chapter 2-1:
Chapter 2-2:
Stat update:
See y'all next time, probably with just one chapter.

Have you ever wanted to use a character that can warp anywhere on the map at will? Tear Ring Saga gave us that ability, but the two characters that had it joined late. Well, now in TRS RR you can use them from the start of the game!
Have you ever wanted dual female lords? TRS RR has that too!
Have you ever wanted a thief lord with 1 base STR and a 0% STR growth rate? Probably not, but you will get one of those in TRS RR too! Screenshots
See here for some screenshots of the fun that is to be had. Patches
Patch for vanilla V1.04 to RR V1.02: Here
The patch should be applied to a .bin file that has already been patched with V1.04 of Aethin's English translation patch. You can obtain the English patch here. These are all xdelta patches, so use your favorite xdelta patcher (Delta Patcher and xdelta UI are two I know of) to patch it. Guide
I have made a handy Spreadsheet Guide that covers recruitment, unit stats, learned skills, promotion gains, events, and other notes. It should have basically everything you need to know while you're playing TRS RR. Note that there are multiple tabs in the spreadsheet. Be sure to check out the "Other Notes" tab, it has some important information! FAQs Do characters have their normal growth rates? How did you calculate the character base stats?
Yes, none of the characters growth rates were changed at all. Character base stats were obtained by using their growth rates and leveling or "deleveling" them to their new level. Promotion bonuses were also added or subtracted as necessary. In TRS there are some classes that don't promote, what happens to units that replace these classes?
I took this on a case-by-case basis:
The Royal Knight class is considered a promoted version of the Cavalier class
The Shadow Knight class is considered a promoted version of the Shadow Lancer class
Leda Princess is considered a promoted version of Princess
Prince is considered a promoted version of Lord.
Artilleryman, Chief, Witch, and Pirate are considered promoted classes, but with no unpromoted version.
Thief is considered an unpromoted class.
How are PRFs handled?
All PRF weapons now belong to the unit who replaced them. So Juni can use Holmes' holy sword, Tia can use Runan's holy sword, etc.
There are also a few unique situations regarding PRFs:
Alicia and Meriel swap places, so Alicia gets a thunder magic version of Starlight (called Starstorm lol) and Meriel gets Dire Light (Which replaces Dire Thunder). Alicia also gets Aura rain, but that is still light magic, so you will have to promote Alicia if you want to be able to use Aura rain.
Esther replaces Rishel, so she gets the Sunspear, which is a 1-3 range lance that replaces Sunflame.
Plum and Lionheart swap places. Lionheart obviously can't use the Enarmor staff, so that became Renee's PRF instead (Since Renee is now the one that gives it to Lionheart in the event)
In Vanilla Alfred joins in the final chapter to prevent the player from softlocking the game if they do not have Sierra/Renee alive. Is there any failsafe to prevent the game from softlocking in RR?
Yes, I did put a failsafe in. Kreiss, who replaces Alfred, will have a warp scroll in his inventory when he joins in the final chapter. It will allow him to learn warp.
Credits
Many thanks to Aethin, who answered numerous questions I had throughout the hacking process. Programs used to create this hack were HxD, CDMage, TIM Viewer, and TRSModify. Changelog V1.02: Based on discord suggestions, changed Zieg's starting class to be Shadow Lancer instead of Cavalier, since that makes more sense.
V1.01: Fixed Letena's portrait when she joins in chapter 2.

[Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn - Reverse Recruitment]
Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn has always been my favorite game from a gameplay perspective. And since I didn't really mind the faults/inconsistencies with the story, it is a game I keep coming back to. However, the balancing of the game is quite horrendous, and at some point I'll want to start a balancing patch. RD is not the most hacked game and since there's not as much in the form of resources compared to FE7 etc, I thought I'd start this by learning the hex editting one step at a time. So that's where this patch comes in. The premise of the Reverse Recruitment is rather simple, and also fun for the drafting community, since there probably hasn't been one of those yet. It's also a great way for me to learn the inner workings of RD one step at a time, since you have to apply the same basic action to pretty much every character; swapping them with another. However, script dialogue, base convo's that recruit people, talk conversations te get people to join and other events all pop up sooner or later and complicate the process of inserting a new character. It's always one thing at a time though, which gives me a great way of easing myself into the depths of the game's code. And thus we arrive at this topic, where I'll be posting updates sporadically since I have a job and busy life (and the weather is just too good to stay inside atm). I would really appreciate it if people would give me feedback on what can be done better, point out bugs and tell if characters need buffs or nerfs. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for playing!
[Patches]
Patch 0.1.5.2 is up, you can download the patch file here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1FjMj8djNNnEeyOaSsVNAleL_bFv6muij
Do note that the patch only goes up to 1-5, Volug is the last unit to have been changed. However, I highly encourage players to keep going, just to see if the promotions for characters like Renning and Volke line up and if in the end, they do reach their correct tier three classes with appropriate models.
[How to patch]
The patch is made through PPF-studio, which can easily be found through a quick duckduckgo search. The program needed (PPF-o-MATIC) is rather intuitive, the only thing you'll need besides the patch file is a RFEP file, which is the European Radiant Dawn ISO.
[Discord]
If you want to discuss the game on other platforms, a Discord link can be clicked here: https://discord.gg/EyPv9py
[Excel character swap sheet]
You can find the link with the character excel sheet below, you can also find some notes about the excel sheet below, which go into the though process of making the sheet.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lOCAemlJgxrmXI2BeuSfuAnlZ9zptVF58qzuUwZ_etI/edit?usp=sharing
[Notes]
1] Ok, so there are some things that had to happen to make this a workable Reverse Recruitment. Mostly because there are three herons in this game and if you at some point get two in the same army, the game turns into a one-turn curbstomp. To work around this you'll notice that sometimes units that join at the same time are in a different order than the "recruitment page" on the main site. For example, Nasir and Gareth join at the same time, so you could swap Leonardo with Gareth and Edward with Nasir or vice versa. This is important because it allows you to play with the order Leanne and Nealuchi are listed in. By putting Nealuchi first in the list and Leanne second, you almost match Leanne with Reyson. They barely swap places, being only one space apart. This makes for a simple last desicion regarding the last Heron Rafiel; he does not partake in the Reversal. Rafiel is the only regular unit that isn't swapped, which allows Leanne and Reyson to line up, thus having all three herons seperate at all times.
2] The Black Knight is not a unit that is allied for the entire game, so he also does not partake in the list and is regarded as a free unit as long as he is part of your army.
3] When you remove Rafiel and the Black Knight from the list, you are left with 71 playable characters. So unit number 36 does not switch places since that unit is smack dab in the middle. The units who is exactly in the middle is, in this case, Ike! Having Ike stay as the main character makes it a lot easier since this does not require me to alter seizing ability and things like godslaying skills.
4] The Light mage and Light Sage classes now promote into Chancellor, since Micaiah arrives in Tier 3. They all keep the chancellor model and as seen in the excel sheet Lehran has altered growths and promotion gains.
5] The worst unit in the game swaps with the best one, Lyre swaps with Haar. Which is rather amusing.
6] Elincia arrives later, so she has altered growths and bases, since she does not have a Tier two model and all falcoknights are already in use so I can't immediately throw her model over them.
[FAQ]
Q: "How exactly do I play this?"
A: You'll need a working emulator (dolphin is recommended), a fresh FE10 (EU) ISO, and a program used to patch the file (to the ISO) I have provided. PFF-O-Matic works fine. Patch the ISO file using that program.
Q: "What are you trying to accomplish with this hack?"
A: Mostly this Hack is a challenge to myself. I have thought about impproving Radiant dawn for years and now I'm finally taking the steps to learn how to do that. Besides this, a Reverse Recruitment hack would be a nice new way to play the game for casual gamers, but also for drafters. This is possible with most Fire Emlem games at the moment, but not with the GC/Wii games.
Q: "The game offers almost the exact same items as before, why do I get a Brave Sword when i need laguz items?!"
A: Adjusting items to suit your new units is something that will be added. Currently units get some items that will benefit them directly, like laguz stones, but also some more indirect advantages. Expect the Cards to be valuable in the early stages of the game when you need to be able to attack without taking a counterattack. I welcome any and all feedback regarding items. I do not want to bombard the player with laguz stones, so things like shine barriers and pure waters are items i would like to play around with.
Q: "What difficulty should I play?"
A: Normal mode.
Q: "Any general tips?"
A: You will be getting only a few Olivi Grasses and Stones in the beginning of the game at the moment, but you will also be getting two blood tides, night tide and white tide, so positioning is key!
Q: "I will be getting Royals in part one, this game will be a cakewalk!"
A: I would not count on it, most laguz are balanced in such a way that while they may be strong and have high Hp, their defenses are lowered quite a bit. This also means growths are adjusted, which means BEXP might be more useful for them now, instead of just giving HP, Skill and Luck. High level early laguz hardly gain exp however, so be sure to not overly rely on them.
Q: "You want to make a balance patch, but why would you, Dunal is already working on one!"
A: "So? There are multiple Fe7 hacks, and even if I also wanted to wanted to make a Balance Patch, my ideas and thoughts about balance will differ from Dunal, so it'll might (if i ever get to make it) have similarities, it won't be the same.

Background: I set out to make a reverse recruitment patch for FE8 as I couldn't find the old one by Mekkah and I wanted to play FE8 a little differently. However, I found out some time later that someone else had already made a true reverse recruitment patch for the game. I didn't want to abandon doing something though, so I made this. It's more like "units randomly get swapped around" than actual reverse recruitment now, but I still figure it's worth sharing.
Whenever I could, I swapped recruitment in pairs or groups rather than by unit. For example, L'arachel and Dozla swap places with Eirika and Seth, and Saleh and Ewan switch with Ross and Garcia.
The ROM (links to dropbox): https://www.dropbox.com/s/w6zdgqxtwrxuu1e/Sacred-Stones-Reverse-Recruitment.ups?dl=0
Below is a full list of changes:
Bugs:
I would love to hear feedback and suggestions!

YouTube playlist with all videos uploaded thus far:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbSv8zSDR9c0vdilWtzzTZ-LQnP2krgFm
It's been approximately a year since I last visited the forums so I don't have a very clear understanding of the new topic division criteria, but, as far as I understood it, posting to specific game subforums (as opposed to the LP forum) is advised when the focus isn't on socialisation but rather development of intricate strategies and planning closely intertwining with the games' mechanics, enemy behaviour and other peculiarities. Mods reading this are free to correct me if necessary.
(will insert YouTube playlist here when there is a sufficient number of videos to make one)
I'll just copy the description off YouTube here:
I generally have excessively lengthy video descriptions covering the video log on YouTube (applies not only to this PT but all those other challenges I've done throughout the years), so, while I will go in-depth with things bothering me in this topic, more detailed analyses and things generally easier for newcomers to grasp can be found by following the embedded video to its YouTube page with an elaborate description up.
The reversed characters' base stats (and the characters they replace) courtesy of Lord Raven
Chapter 1 video (5 turns; 3 definitely possible via manipulation as seen in the screenshot below the post):
I did try to have Yuno carry Karel all the way north, and she was able to carry Karel to a place where he can seize on turn 3. Yuno needed to get sniped by an Archer prior to crossing the river (easily accomplished when weighed down), causing the Archer to attack her instead of Karel, and Karel also dodged two 63s from one of the Fighters (each axe swing OHKOing his 8HP/0DEF with ease).
However, Yuno needed a 4% crit to ORKO the boss on turn 3, and such an RN wasn't available. Various players have their own preference towards RNG exploitation and, while my playthrough very much deals with the RNG (or vice versa rather; it's hard to say, between the RNG and me, who is owning whom), I refuse to do the really TAS-like RNG burns (or any movement manipulation to rig stuff at all). Sticking to this rule ("no visible path manipulation") ensures that I'm not expected to do stuff like have a weakling dodge an enemy phase of impossibly overpowered enemy units, critting a bunch of them in counterattack and gaining a few perfect levels (though I'd obviously kill for a situation when the RNG just happened to give me such a turn out of the blue). Without forcing my views upon anyone, I just feel such a playstyle is a bit distant from the actual playing of Fire Emblem "as it is", so the low turn direction of the run is secondary to the playstyle chosen herein. Because I enjoy low-turning (which I've taken a long break from) and I enjoy playing FE "as it is".
I haven't progressed very far yet - I've done chapter 2, then redone it again by conserving Armorslayer uses (a ridiculously finite and invaluable item when Oujay doesn't bring a second one at all, and the Hammer can be effectively used - i.e. by a mounted unit - only by promoted Percival for an extremely long period of the runthrough.
I have a lot of concerns that will be expressed at length in my further posts here, and, as per usual, I welcome all feedback, input and other comments related to the playthrough showcased here.
Perhaps the most pressing issues to be addressed as soon as possible would be:
- how to prevent the manually promoted Karel from demoting during chapter 21. I believe I have to cut something out of the game with a program that is possibly called an "event editor" but that's about all I know about this based on intuition alone.
- with three competent fliers in the party, I'm looking forward to going to Illia rather than Sacae with its awful maps, nomads and terribad hit rates. However, I haven't establishes whether it's the levels of the original characters (Sue/Shin and Thany/Tate) that determines one's route or the levels of their replacements. The latter would be difficult considering Elphin, one of the two simultaneously available dancers, joins at lv. 1 and is most certainly seeing heavy usage. It is dubious whether Sophia (Thany's replacement) and Noah (Tate's replacement) can compensate for the amount of experience Elphin gets (should he co-operate with Lalum for double-dancer strategies or even level up to lv. 20 together with Lalum for more reliable hyper-offensive chapter clears).
I put up a poll with some potential things of note to be pondered.
[spoiler=Current turn counts]
C1 5 turns
C2 4 turns
C3 6 turns
C4 5 turns
C5 4 turns
C6 4 turns
C7 5 turns
C8 8 turns
C8x 3 turns
C9 3 turns
C10 3 turns
C11 2 turns
C12 3 turns
C12x 3 turns
C13 3 turns
C14 2 turns
C14x 2 turns
C15 2 turns
C16 3 turns
C16x 2 turns
C17s 2 turns
C18s 2 turns
C19s 2 turns
[spoiler=Stat boosters]
4 Angelic Robe - hoarding
11 Speedwings - sold
13 Body Ring - Elphin
14 Boots - Zeiss
14 Talisman - sold
14 Speedwings - hoarding
[spoiler=Promotions]
7 Hero Crest - Karel
8 Knight Crest - Percival
8 Guiding Ring - Clarine
8 Elysian Whip - Zeiss
11 Orion Bolt - Dayan
12 Elysian Whip - Miledy
14 Guiding Ring - sold
15 Knight Crest - sold